Chapter 2

“We’re here,” Emery announced as they stood before the humongous entrance of the third gate surrounding the capital of Silex Kingdom. 

She must admit that after almost six years, being here alone made her feel like she traveled back in time. The only difference was that the security around the vicinity was tighter than before and there were guards by the gate checking the identities of those who were passing through.

“Your badges?” the guard asked in order to confirm that the newcomers were not people who would cause trouble.

Emery was the first one to show her fake badge proving to them that she was a mere merchant together with some of her assistants. Much to her relief, they were not suspected at all, however, just when they were about to pass through the gate, one of the guards stopped them.

“You…” He pointed at Emery with narrowed eyes. “Show us your face before you could head inside.”

The ten girls looked at their meister and waited for her to remove her mask since she had been using it even though it was not really necessary… at least that’s what they thought. However, Emery’s response left them with nothing but a huge question.

“My apologies, sir, but I cannot remove my mask as it is against our tradition. I am a married woman so unless you get permission from my husband, I cannot show my face.”

Her voice was higher than usual, though it still sounded natural and this was yet another thing that the girls found interesting since they really haven’t seen what their meister looked like during a mission.

One of the guards sighed. “Just let them in. Forcing her to show her face when it is against their belief is considered harassment. Besides, she does not look suspicious at all.”

Emery thanked them with a small bow before taking the lead once again. The girls, then, huddled around her, unable to keep themselves behaved after what happened.

“Meister, why did you lie about being married?” Ophelia asked.

Mave, the oldest among the ten, shook her head and replied in the stead of their meister.

“Of course it is for the sake of keeping our real identities,” she said, catching the attention of the others as they continued to follow Emery. “Why else did we have to fake our badges only to reveal the truth about us? It is meant to deceive and make it seem like we leave no traces of our presence in places we have passed by.”

“She’s right so keep that in mind. I already told you about that from the beginning that people like us must be consistent with our fronts and appearances. Any sign of inconsistency could lead to exposure and death,” Emery added.

Other than that, if some civilian or guards recognized her, it might cause a commotion and she would be unable to complete the mission she came here for. She led the girls to the most isolated part of the third circle of the capital where an old and rundown clothing shop was located. The girls had no idea what was going on so they started to ask themselves if they would be staying in that place, where it seemed like with only a swift blow of the wind, it could be knocked down in no time.

Even though they wanted to ask Emery about it, they chose to be quiet and just watched their meister enter. The door creaked open and it sounded like it could already fall off its hinges at any time so Ophelia closed it ever so slowly and carefully. Just by the wooden counter, there was an old woman behind it, smiling at them as if she had been anticipating their arrival. 

Emery brought out her dagger with the silver and gold snakes intertwined together to secure the shield-shaped gemstone on it. She showed it to the old woman and when she received a small nod from her, she motioned the girls to go with her in following the old woman’s lead. They entered the small storage room that was filled with mannequins and several faded unused rolls of cloth covered with dust. At the corner of the room, there was a large closet that looked like it was haunted. 

“Here, young lady,” the old woman said with a small feeble voice.

Emery simply nodded and opened the doors of the closet. The creaking sounds even made the atmosphere creepier, making the others step back as they held each other’s hands. Who knows? Some entity might just suddenly jump out to get them. However, only some old clothes were hanging in there and their meister pushed them to the left side before stepping inside. She fumbled around it for a while before they heard a small click and the very next second, a small entrance appeared on the right side of the closet. 

There was a narrow and seemingly long staircase leading below. Though Emery could not tell how it went down because it was covered with darkness. The old woman handed the girls four lamps and the other one was given to Emery.

“Follow me closely and do not touch anything or you might just activate some traps,” she reminded the girls before descending the wooden stairs. 

When all of them descended, the old woman shut the entrance and slid the clothes back to their usual place before closing the closet. She acted like nothing happened and simply returned to her position.

“Meister, where are we going exactly?” Hailey asked as her eyes wandered around, though there was really nothing much to see since they were surrounded with nothing but brick walls from their left and right, and up and down. As they took a turn, they came to see a long hallway but this time, there were rooms facing each other and several lamps lit up the place. They could hear some noises and chatters around, meaning that there were people living there.

“This will be our temporary quarters,” Emery said, but she was cut off when a red-haired woman came out from one of the rooms and stared at them for a moment with a dumbfounded look. She was covered with bandages and before anyone would say a word, she dashed towards Emery and hugged her tight. Within seconds, she was bawling like a child who dearly missed her mother.

“E-E-Emery,” she stuttered, “it’s good to s-see you again. We thought you’d never arrive!”

Emery could not find the right words to say so she could only hug her and caress her back. The next minute, she saw familiar faces coming out from the different rooms and instead of celebrating her return, the atmosphere turned even more somber. Emery clenched her fists as she eyed them one by one. She expected that there were injured ones, but what she did not expect was to see them all wounded and covered in bandages.

“Where are the others?” she managed to ask since it seemed like there were only a few of them there.

Cataleena let go of her and replied, “Some are still unconscious. The others cannot even stand yet.”

The solemn and dry atmosphere gave Emery the chills, making her think that she might just hear some even worse news than this. But before she could go and see the headmasters, she turned to the girls first.

“Take a rest and once you are all good, help the others in tending to the wounded, cooking food, and anything you can do to lend a hand.” She turned to Mave. “Look after the others. Don’t get yourselves hurt. If something urgent comes up, find me. And once things are settled a bit, I will introduce you to the headmasters. Am I clear?”

“Yes, meister,” the girls replied in sync before they were divided into two groups and occupied the rooms just at the end of the long hallway. 

“They seem to be ready for their missions.”

Emery turned on her heels upon hearing that voice and just as she thought, it was Headmaster Harriet, the one whose area of jurisdiction to watch over was the capital city.

“I… I think they need more training, headmaster,” she replied before biting her lower lip.

headmaster Harriet could see how upset the assassin was in front of her but she simply smiled and told her to follow her. They entered a room. There were two beds with the other occupied with a bed-ridden assassin. Just like Headmaster Harriet, she had bandages on her face and with the little light inside, it was hard for Emery to recognize her.

“That’s Contessa. She was one of the gravely injured assassins. She was not able to regain consciousness until last week. I hate to say this but she is barely hanging on. Just like me, they gouged out one of her eyes before beating her close to death,” Headmaster Harriet said as they settled down.

The chatters and the little echoes around them seemed to have been muted and all Emery could hear was the low and calm voice of their headmaster.

“Anyway, before we discuss this matter, you should go and have some proper rest first. You need it.”

Emery shook her head. “I got enough sleep last night so please… tell me everything now. Besides, we can no longer delay things right now because there is a possibility that the ones behind this incident are still lurking around and waiting for the perfect time to strike.”

Headmaster Harriet locked gaze on Headmaster Contessa before looking back at Emery. It took her some time to collect herself and gather her strength to retell the tragedy that happened in their headquarters just six months ago.

“We were having an urgent meeting that day because of the sudden rise of unsolved murders going on around the kingdom…” Headmaster Harriet felt like she was brought back to that very moment as she recalled the time of the calm before the sudden storm.

- Flashback -

“We have already listed about 20 dead bodies in the southern area of the kingdom,” Headmaster Contessa reported. She was the one assigned to look after the southern and eastern part of the kingdom. “I did some investigation myself  but I always end up with nothing but a dead end. There was no lead at all. No one ever saw the culprits. Even the kingdom is looking into it but they are also unable to trace anyone.”

Headmaster Harriet had the same thing to say after looking into the matter around the capital city itself. She wanted to send in Jadeite inside the palace since she was the one familiar with it to check if the king or probably one of the ministers were involved, however, Jadeite was still on her solo mission. She was supposed to be summoned back but none of the other assassins knew where she was at the moment so they will have to wait for her return.

“We need more hands to solve this case,” Headmaster Amirah commented. She was the head assassin guarding the northern and western part of the Silex Kingdom. “I think it is time to summon Emery back here and have her students gather intel.”

“Well, I guess that is another alternative. We could also have her handle the matter,” Headmaster Contessa agreed.

Their meeting was about to be adjourned, however, Secora - one of the assassins who trained along with Emery ever since they were young - came barging into the meeting room.

“Headmasters…” she managed to say before trying to catch her breath. “I brought some news about those who have been killing around the kingdom!”

The headmasters immediately gave some time for Secora to regain her strength and stabilize her breathing so they could hear the news she brought back with her.

“So… Just the other night on my way here, I came across a woman mourning over the death of her husband. She suspected that I was one of the people who killed her husband but I managed to convince her that I was not one of them.”

She then knitted her eyebrows as she clenched her fists before adding, “According to her, the killers of her husband were a group of men wearing red cloaks and black masks. And it seemed like they were looking for a certain someone.”

“Looking for someone?” Headmaster Contessa asked. “Does she know who it is?”

Secora shook her head as she looked down on the ground.

“Though she mentioned that it seemed to be a maiden. She cannot remember the name uttered by one of the killers but she saw a glimpse of the portrait that they had shown her husband.”

Headmaster stood from her seat out of reflex, hoping that they would finally have a lead.

“Did she describe it? Or did you make her draw that maiden?” she asked.

“I actually brought her drawing of the maiden in the portrait she saw but I cannot really assure you that it will help in this case.”

Secora brought out a small scroll and spread it out on the table where everyone could see it. The three headmasters looked at the drawing for a few seconds before Headmaster Harriet grabbed it with one hand, crumpling it along the way, and threw it right on the floor.

“What kind of drawing is that? It looks like a pig adorned with bullshit!”

Secora let out a chuckle and added, “Well, she actually sucks at describing her, too. They were all vague since all she said was that the maiden was beautiful and with the clothes and accessories she was wearing, the woman is quite sure that the maiden they are looking for is a noble or a royalty.”

Even with that information, it was still unclear and still too broad for them to start searching whoever this maiden was.

Picking up the crumpled portrait. Headmaster Harriet said, “To sum it all up, these murderers are looking for a maiden and since they are just targetting men from the army of the kingdom, there is indeed a high possibility that this maiden is a part of a well-known noble family connected with the army.”

Headmaster Amirah held the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed.

She said, “Secora, I am assigning you to look into the noble families and list down the ladies that could possibly be the target of the killers. Do not take too long in this mission so we could at least, even by a small chance, try to predict the next move of the unknown enemy.”

Just after adjourning the meeting, a loud explosion startled everyone present in the headquarters.

- End of flashback -